In the 2025 tennis season, Ben Shelton experienced a mix of results. He recently reflected on his performance before beginning his campaign at the 2025 Paris Masters. In the lead-up to the ATP Masters 1000 hard-court tournament, he competed at the 2025 Swiss Indoors, where he defeated qualifier Kamil Majchrzak in the first round before losing to Jaume Munar.
Shelton also participated in the doubles event, teaming up with Rohan Bopanna. They advanced to the semifinals, where they lost to eventual runners-up, Adam Pavlásek and Jan Zieliński.
What Did Ben Shelton Say About His Performance in the 2025 Season?
This year, during the Grand Slam tournaments, Shelton reached the semifinals at the Australian Open, made it to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, and advanced to the fourth and third rounds at the French Open and the US Open, respectively.
Shelton’s best result of the year was winning the 2025 Canadian Open and claiming his first ATP Masters 1000 title. He also finished as the runner-up at the BMW Open in Munich and reached the semifinals at the BOSS Open and the Citi DC Open, among others.
While speaking to Tennis TV, Shelton discussed his tennis journey this year, describing it as not being “straightforward.” He noted that it has been a “rollercoaster” experience, as he sometimes faced a slump in his form and had to work hard to play his best tennis.
“For me, it hasn’t been all straightforward. It hasn’t been just winning all the time. There’s been times where I’ve played really well. There’s been times where I haven’t played so well, and had to get myself out of a slump. I think that’s just tennis. It’s a rollercoaster for me to be able to find my great tennis more consistently later in the year,” Shelton said.
Reflecting on his performance during the North American hard-court swing of the Tour, the World No. 6 stated that it is his favorite time to play and that the swing has been a “great thing” for him.
“It has always been a great thing for me, so playing well in North America, in the summer, the place that I like to play the most, that I enjoy being the most, was the really cool part. Tennis is interesting because if you don’t keep improving, you get past. There are so many good young players and talent coming in and making a name for themselves,” he continued.
Shelton mentioned that tennis is a sport where players must continuously evolve and improve; otherwise, they risk being left behind as younger and more talented players enter the scene, trying to make a name for themselves.
“So for me, I just try to get better and make my level better year after year, and that’s what I’m focused on. I think if you’re just trying to stay where you’re at or maintain, you fall behind, and that’s always been my philosophy and my team’s philosophy,” Shelton added.
Who Will Shelton Face at the 2025 Paris Masters 2R?
Following the conclusion of his campaign at the Swiss Indoors, Shelton is set to compete in the 2025 Paris Masters, which began on October 27, 2025, and will run until November 2, on the indoor hard courts of the La Défense Arena in Paris.
The World No. 7 is seeded fifth in this ATP Masters 1000 event and will begin his campaign in the second round, where he will face Flavio Cobolli in his opening match. The Italian advanced to the second round by defeating Tomáš Macháč 6-1, 6-4 in the first round.
Shelton and Cobolli have met four times on the ATP Tour, with each player claiming two wins each. Their most recent encounter was in the fourth round of the 2025 Canadian Open, where the American emerged victorious 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(1).
The winner of this match will advance to face either the 12th seed Andrey Rublev or Learner Tien in the third round.
